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How to Decorate Your Yard With Light Sculptures

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Christmas light sculptures are exactly what the name sounds like. You take a bunch of Christmas lights and wrap them around an object to create a form.

There are all sorts of ways to use Christmas lights outdoors. You can drape them on bushes or on house eves and then gnarl or extend the lights to create a unique effect. However some people don’t stop there. They buy wire armatures to create their very own Christmas light sculpture or create a frame for the sculpture out of bendable wire. The most common Christmas light sculpture is probably a star that is made out of lights that have been wired together.

However you can create a Christmas light sculpture around just about any theme. Reindeers, sleighs and Santa Clauses are also a common Christmas outdoor decoration.

Anything that can be wired into a shape can be turned into a light sculpture. This includes Christmas tree, bell and peace dove shapes. If you know how to bend a wire and how to wrap lights around it then you are fully prepared to create your own light sculptures. If you don’t have a lot of money for chicken wire or other types you can create smaller sculptures out of hanger wire. Any wire that will bend will do. You can even make an armature out of cardboard if you warp it tightly with enough lights so that the cardboard does not show.

You can also make interesting shapes out of the natural forms in your back yards. You don’t always need a wire armature to make your very own Christmas light
sculpture. All that is really required for this type of Christmas outdoor decoration is a bush or a shrub. Don’t be afraid to use your fence, trees or rocks or anything that hat you find in your backyard as the foundation for your sculptures. Lighted spiral tree sculptures and lights decorating birdbaths and arbors can turn your garden into a glittering Christmas outdoor display.

Obviously the more strands of lights that you have, the more expensive your electricity bill is going to be after the season of making merry is over. Second of all try to buy Christmas light for the yard that has a pre -manufactured design to it. You can buy all kinds of multi-tiered and draped lights that only use one socket instead of several. This can help cut energy costs.

How to Decorate With Christmas Poinsettas

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When it comes to home holiday decorations, the poinsettia is a familiar mainstay on mantelpieces and dinner tables. However the tradition of using this plant as part of home holiday decorations originated in Mexico, not in North America.

In Mexico, the poinsettia is are called by many names: “flor de fuego” (fire flower), “flor de Navidad” (Christmas Flower), and “flor de la Nochebuena” (Flower of the Holy Night). North American culture has since adopted this flower, which comes with red, white or pink leaves, as part of traditional home holiday decorations. In Europe the tradition of using poinsettias as part of Christmas décor is a Spanish influence; a hangover from when Spanish conquistadors brought the gorgeous plant over from Mexico for royalty to admire. Exactly how it became associated with Christmas is not exactly known but the flower is a familiar site in every way around Christmas time. In fact, a gift of a Poinsetta is a sought after gift.

Most people just use the plant itself as a decorating accent and place it on the mantel, a dining room table or on a plant stand of its own that gives it some majesty and prominence in the room. No matter where you put them nothing says Christmas quite as vividly as a poinsettia. You can also take poinsettia flowers and make them into a beautiful wreath for your front door. However it is better to make this out of silk or plastic poinsettia foliage as one made from real leaves might be expensive.

The poinsettia makes a great decorating accent, particularly if you are planning a color scheme that is all white or all red as part of your xmas décor. However if you have pets or children in the house you may want to avoid using poinsettias as part of your home holiday decorations because it is a very poisonous plant. In this case you can easily buy life-like plastic versions of this special Christmas flower at craft and retail chain stores. Another benefit to using the plastic or silk versions of poinsettias is that you can keep them dust free and clean. Poinsettias can also be fussy flowers. You need to take care of it if you want it to live long.

If you don’t like the idea of keeping the actual plant around there are is no shortage of linens, ribbons and other décor that have a screen-print of a poinsettia on them. You can also get ceramic and glass decorations in the shape of a poinsettia.